Much like Kelly Collins, we have another prosecutor who is endorsed by every police fraternal organization in the coverage area of the court.
I mean after all, in the unlikely event you ended up defending yourself in their courtroom, would you feel like you were going to get a fair shake if the police officer who cited you’s police union endorsed your judge?
If your judge’s campaign website contained pages of all the prominent cases they tried as prosecutor, do you feel as the defendant that you might get an honest chance to make your case, and that your prosecutor and the police that endorsed your judge will truly have to prove beyond a doubt that you did the crime you’re being accused of? That they’ll give fair and impartial instructions to your jury? That they will ensure their former colleagues for the last 17 years will be adequately challenged if they overstep your legal rights?
Of course, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Wayne State University’s Law School will at least be familiar with the ethical standards expected of a judge, and ideally, they’ll follow those to the letter.
So we’ll pose the same question we did to Kelly Collins – What is your plan for maintaining impartiality after a career of working as a prosecutor, with the endorsement of every law enforcement agency that testifies at the court? I’m sure you’ll respond along the lines that there’s no rules against accepting an endorsement by police, and that it’s common. But that doesn’t really answer the question – How can defendants look at that endorsement and feel they’re going to get a fair shake?
We’ll add in a few more:
- Why were you endorsed by the Kalamazoo and Portage police officers associations? As a lifelong citizen of Macomb County, I can’t imagine why those two organizations would be falling over themselves to endorse a judge on the other side of the state.
- Why are fire fighters endorsing a judge?
- Are any defense attorneys or organizations representing defendants interested in endorsing you? If not, why not?
- What circumstances led you to carrying a concealed pistol into a school, then forgetting it there, and what lifestyle changes did you make in order to prevent yourself from carrying a pistol into a school? What process changes did you make to prevent yourself from inadvertent off body carry, especially one that might lead to children getting their hands on your weapon? (I’m a firearms instructor, so maybe this one’s not just for everyone, but if you’re up to it, why not?)
Because this is about asking better questions of those who seek to lead, not just muckraking, if these questions are ultimately answered, they will be linked here.